“I remember it like yesterday. The very first times skateboardingwas in my friend Björn’s basement in Tidaholm.“

Do you remember when your first time to skate was?

Yes, of course. I remember it like yesterday. The very first times skateboarding was in my friend Björn’s basement in Tidaholm. ‘Böna’ had a hand-me-down 1970s skateboard in his basement where us boys would always hang out and play, and sometimes we ride it across the basement. This was the first skateboard I ever rode.

How long have you skated?

Technically, I’ve been skateboarding for around 30 years, but it’s probably more like 23 years to be fair…

I got my first skateboard in 1987 after my friend and I had seen Back To The Future in the cinema after school. I remember we asked our parents to give us skateboards the next day. It was a cheap 1970s ‘banana board’ with the USA flag on the top and red wheels. It was really crap HAHA.

My first ‘real’ skateboard I got on my 11th birthday in 1990. It was the classic skull and dagger Mike McGill board on Powell Peralta, compete with Rathbones wheels. It was so precious to me I didn’t do any boardslides because I didn’t want to ruin the graphic ha ha ha.

But to be honest, I probably only started skateboarding properly the year after, when I was 12 years old… after I got a Jeremy Klein World Industries deck for Christmas ’91.

Did you expect when you started your career?

In my home town, there was a kid who was a year older than me and he was the first out of our gang to quit skateboarding, at the age of 15 or something. He said that there’s no future in skateboarding because we’d all quit anyway as soon as we get a bit older, because no one skates at the age of 20.

I remember arguing with him that I’d never quit skateboarding, that I’d be working in skateboarding when I grow up and that I would definitely skate when I was 20. I’m now 36 and I still skate every day, and I run my own skateboard company Fast Wheels.

I’d like to say my ‘career’ panned out pretty much as I had planned it! Minus the part when I got sponsored and became pro!

I’d like to say my ‘career’ panned outpretty much as I had planned it!Minus the part when I got sponsored and became pro!

Where is your favourite skatepark and why?

Mile End Skate Park for sure. It’s the quite simply the best skatepark in London. It’s the only place in London where you’re 100% certain that you’ll actually get to skate. 99% of the time there are no scooters, bmx or rollerbladers, or families having picnics in the middle of the skate park… unlike practically every other skate park in London today. Also, Mile End does not have X-Games inspired obstacles, just low long ledges and a lot of smooth ground. That’s all I need to stay happy.

“I wish I lived closer so I can go every day.Mile End for life fool!“

So what would be a perfect skatepark?

If Mile End was extended covering the last corner which is now just a big hole in the ground boarded-up, and if the pool was filled-up with cement and if there was a long flat-rail there instead; it would also be fucking nice if someone opened a cheap bar in the arches (instead of the mini ramp), and oh can we have 24 hour lights as well please? Oh man, doesn’t this sound so fucking good?? Come on let’s make it happen!!

What do you pack in your bag when you go skateboarding?

I don’t take a bag with me. All I need is my house keys and a box of snus, and a few coins in my pocket so I can buy a drink or two. My wife insists I always carry my phone with me but I wish I wouldn’t have to. And I’ll bring a fruit to eat on the way too… because my body is old and I need that shit!

I’ve tried every bad advice there is. I should try a few good ones for a change! Maybe I will, sometime in the future, but not yet.

What do you do when you're not skating?

Family and work takes up almost all my time outside of skateboarding. I used to also be a music writer, writing about DIY punk music to various magazines as well as writing my own fanzine, releasing records and generally hustling records and music shit. But since I started FSWC I’ve basically stopped all that, even though I still listen to music 10 hours everyday!

What makes you most proud of your work/job? (Creating)

The best feeling is seeing someone skate Fast Wheels. When we started in February this year I expected that this would happen sometime by the summer but within 2 weeks I had seen like 5 people skate our wheels. Now I see people with Fast Wheels all the time and it still blows my mind every time. There are some really talented London skateboarders who skate our wheels out of their own choice, and that makes me incredibly proud.

The fact that we’ve got some of the most incredible skateboarders on the Fast Wheels team like Barney Page, Albert Nyberg and Nisse Ingemarsson, Julian Kimura, Kyle Wilson and all the others, also makes me incredibly proud.

Who do you admire the most?

Everyone and no one.

Hidden Talent?

I’ve got eidetic memory.

What's your obsession?

I’m obsessed with a very narrow sub-genre of punk music, namely Kyushu Punk, or punk from the southern Japanese island Kyushu. There were a few different styles or genres of Kyushu punk, but it’s probably best known for its special kind of noise-core, which later developed into a very snotty punk sound. I obsessively collect everything by bands like Gai, the Swankys and Confuse. I am not just talking records, CDs and cassette tapes, but everything from fliers and posters to tshirts etc. Basically I am a hoarder.

The last few years I’ve been strictly wearing and skating Vans only. I love to skate in Vans old skool classics, both hi and low, ditto Half Cabs. I love the AV Natives and the AV Classics too, and have gone through countless pairs... Lately I’m on a major Chukka Boot trip. I’ve got like 3 pairs of Chukkas now. What can I say? I’m a kid of the 1990s.